TY - JOUR A1 - Seifert, Annika A1 - Gruber, Julia A1 - Gbureck, Uwe A1 - Groll, Jürgen T1 - Morphological control of freeze‐structured scaffolds by selective temperature and material control in the ice‐templating process JF - Advanced Engineering Materials N2 - Herein, it is aimed to highlight the importance of the process parameter choice during directional solidification of polymer solutions, as they have a significant influence on the pore structure and orientation. Biopolymer solutions (alginate and chitosan) are directionally frozen, while systematically varying parameters such as the external temperature gradient, the temperature of the overall system, and the temperatures of the cooling surfaces. In addition, the effect of material properties such as molecular weight, solution concentration, or viscosity on the sample morphology is investigated. By selecting appropriate temperature gradients and cooling surface temperatures, aligned pores ranging in size between (50 ± 22) μm and (144 ± 56) μm are observed in the alginate samples, whereas the pore orientation is influenced by altering the external temperature gradient. As this gradient increases, the pores are increasingly oriented perpendicular to the sample surface. This is also observed in the chitosan samples. However, if the overall system is too cold, that is, using temperatures of the lower cooling surface down to −60 °C combined with low temperatures of the upper cooling surface, control over pore orientation is lost. This is also found when viscosity of chitosan solutions is above ≈5 Pas near the freezing point. KW - unidirectional freezing KW - anisotropic porous structures KW - morphology controls KW - systematic investigations Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-256330 VL - 24 IS - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schmitz, Tobias A1 - Jannasch, Maren A1 - Weigel, Tobias A1 - Moseke, Claus A1 - Gbureck, Uwe A1 - Groll, Jürgen A1 - Walles, Heike A1 - Hansmann, Jan T1 - Nanotopographical Coatings Induce an Early Phenotype-Specific Response of Primary Material-Resident M1 and M2 Macrophages JF - Materials N2 - Implants elicit an immunological response after implantation that results in the worst case in a complete implant rejection. This biomaterial-induced inflammation is modulated by macrophages and can be influenced by nanotopographical surface structures such as titania nanotubes or fractal titanium nitride (TiN) surfaces. However, their specific impact on a distinct macrophage phenotype has not been identified. By using two different levels of nanostructures and smooth samples as controls, the influence of tubular TiO2 and fractal TiN nanostructures on primary human macrophages with M1 or M2-phenotype was investigated. Therefore, nanotopographical coatings were either, directly generated by physical vapor deposition (PVD) or by electrochemical anodization of titanium PVD coatings. The cellular response of macrophages was quantitatively assessed to demonstrate a difference in biocompatibility of nanotubes in respect to human M1 and M2-macrophages. Depending on the tube diameter of the nanotubular surfaces, low cell numbers and impaired cellular activity, was detected for M2-macrophages, whereas the impact of nanotubes on M1-polarized macrophages was negligible. Importantly, we could confirm this phenotypic response on the fractal TiN surfaces. The results indicate that the investigated topographies specifically impact the macrophage M2-subtype that modulates the formation of the fibrotic capsule and the long-term response to an implant. KW - nanotopographical surfaces KW - combination of physical vapor deposition and electrochemical etching KW - defined humanized test system KW - inflammatory response Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-203378 SN - 1996-1944 VL - 13 IS - 5 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Seifert, Annika A1 - Groll, Jürgen A1 - Weichhold, Jan A1 - Boehm, Anne V. A1 - Müller, Frank A. A1 - Gbureck, Uwe T1 - Phase Conversion of Ice‐Templated α‐Tricalcium Phosphate Scaffolds into Low‐Temperature Calcium Phosphates with Anisotropic Open Porosity JF - Advanced Engineering Materials N2 - The current study aims to extend the material platform for anisotropically structured calcium phosphates to low-temperature phases such as calcium-deficient hydroxyapatite (CDHA) or the secondary phosphates monetite and brushite. This is achieved by the phase conversion of highly porous α-tricalcium phosphate (α-TCP) scaffolds fabricated by ice-templating into the aforementioned phases by hydrothermal treatment or incubation in phosphoric acid. Prior to these steps, α-TCP scaffolds are either sintered for 8 h at 1400 °C or remain in their original state. Both nonsintered and sintered α-TCP specimens are converted into CDHA by hydrothermal treatment, while a transformation into monetite and brushite is achieved by incubation in phosphoric acid. Hydrothermal treatment for 72 h at 175 °C increases the porosity in nonsintered samples from 85% to 88% and from 75% to 88% in the sintered ones. An increase in the specific surface area from (1.102 ± 0.005) to (9.17 ± 0.01) m2 g−1 and from (0.190 ± 0.004) to (2.809 ± 0.002) m2 g−1 due to the phase conversion is visible for both the nonsintered and sintered samples. Compressive strength of the nonsintered samples increases significantly from (0.76 ± 0.11) to (5.29 ± 0.94) MPa due to incubation in phosphoric acid. KW - phase conversion KW - α-tricalcium phosphate Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-256311 VL - 23 IS - 5 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pinzner, Florian A1 - Keller, Thorsten A1 - Mut, Jürgen A1 - Bechold, Julian A1 - Seibel, Jürgen A1 - Groll, Jürgen T1 - Polyoxazolines with a vicinally double-bioactivated terminus for biomacromolecular affinity assessment JF - Sensors N2 - Interactions between proteins and carbohydrates with larger biomacromolecules, e.g., lectins, are usually examined using self-assembled monolayers on target gold surfaces as a simplified model measuring setup. However, most of those measuring setups are either limited to a single substrate or do not allow for control over ligand distance and spacing. Here, we develop a synthetic strategy, consisting of a cascade of a thioesterification, native chemical ligation (NCL) and thiol-ene reaction, in order to create three-component polymer conjugates with a defined double bioactivation at the chain end. The target architecture is the vicinal attachment of two biomolecule residues to the α telechelic end point of a polymer and a thioether group at the ω chain end for fixating the conjugate to a gold sensor chip surface. As proof-of-principle studies for affinity measurements, we demonstrate the interaction between covalently bound mannose and ConA in surface acoustic wave (SAW) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) experiments. KW - polyoxazolines KW - functionalization KW - lectin Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-239530 SN - 1424-8220 VL - 21 IS - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tylek, Tina A1 - Blum, Carina A1 - Hrynevich, Andrei A1 - Schlegelmilch, Katrin A1 - Schilling, Tatjana A1 - Dalton, Paul D A1 - Groll, Jürgen T1 - Precisely defined fiber scaffolds with 40 μm porosity induce elongation driven M2-like polarization of human macrophages JF - Biofabrication N2 - Macrophages are key players of the innate immune system that can roughly be divided into the pro-inflammatory M1 type and the anti-inflammatory, pro-healing M2 type. While a transient initial pro-inflammatory state is helpful, a prolonged inflammation deteriorates a proper healing and subsequent regeneration. One promising strategy to drive macrophage polarization by biomaterials is precise control over biomaterial geometry. For regenerative approaches, it is of particular interest to identify geometrical parameters that direct human macrophage polarization. For this purpose, we advanced melt electrowriting (MEW) towards the fabrication of fibrous scaffolds with box-shaped pores and precise inter-fiber spacing from 100 μm down to only 40 μm. These scaffolds facilitate primary human macrophage elongation accompanied by differentiation towards the M2 type, which was most pronounced for the smallest pore size of 40 μm. These new findings can be important in helping to design new biomaterials with an enhanced positive impact on tissue regeneration. KW - cell elongation KW - human macrophages KW - melt electrowriting (MEW) KW - macrophage polarization KW - 3D scaffolds Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-254012 VL - 12 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pereira, Ana Rita A1 - Trivanović, Drenka A1 - Stahlhut, Philipp A1 - Rudert, Maximilian A1 - Groll, Jürgen A1 - Herrmann, Marietta T1 - Preservation of the naïve features of mesenchymal stromal cells in vitro: Comparison of cell- and bone-derived decellularized extracellular matrix JF - Journal of Tissue Engineering N2 - The fate and behavior of bone marrow mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (BM-MSC) is bidirectionally influenced by their microenvironment, the stem cell niche, where a magnitude of biochemical and physical cues communicate in an extremely orchestrated way. It is known that simplified 2D in vitro systems for BM-MSC culture do not represent their naïve physiological environment. Here, we developed four different 2D cell-based decellularized matrices (dECM) and a 3D decellularized human trabecular-bone scaffold (dBone) to evaluate BM-MSC behavior. The obtained cell-derived matrices provided a reliable tool for cell shape-based analyses of typical features associated with osteogenic differentiation at high-throughput level. On the other hand, exploratory proteomics analysis identified native bone-specific proteins selectively expressed in dBone but not in dECM models. Together with its architectural complexity, the physico-chemical properties of dBone triggered the upregulation of stemness associated genes and niche-related protein expression, proving in vitro conservation of the naïve features of BM-MSC. KW - decellularization KW - bone model KW - stem cell niche KW - stemness KW - osteogenesis KW - 3D models Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-268835 VL - 13 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Paxton, Naomi A1 - Smolan, Willi A1 - Böck, Thomas A1 - Melchels, Ferry A1 - Groll, Jürgen A1 - Jungst, Tomasz T1 - Proposal to assess printability of bioinks for extrusion-based bioprinting and evaluation of rheological properties governing bioprintability JF - Biofabrication N2 - The development and formulation of printable inks for extrusion-based 3D bioprinting has been a major challenge in the field of biofabrication. Inks, often polymer solutions with the addition of crosslinking to form hydrogels, must not only display adequate mechanical properties for the chosen application but also show high biocompatibility as well as printability. Here we describe a reproducible two-step method for the assessment of the printability of inks for bioprinting, focussing firstly on screening ink formulations to assess fibre formation and the ability to form 3D constructs before presenting a method for the rheological evaluation of inks to characterise the yield point, shear thinning and recovery behaviour. In conjunction, a mathematical model was formulated to provide a theoretical understanding of the pressure-driven, shear thinning extrusion of inks through needles in a bioprinter. The assessment methods were trialled with a commercially available crème, poloxamer 407, alginate-based inks and an alginate-gelatine composite material. Yield stress was investigated by applying a stress ramp to a number of inks, which demonstrated the necessity of high yield for printable materials. The shear thinning behaviour of the inks was then characterised by quantifying the degree of shear thinning and using the mathematical model to predict the window of printer operating parameters in which the materials could be printed. Furthermore, the model predicted high shear conditions and high residence times for cells at the walls of the needle and effects on cytocompatibility at different printing conditions. Finally, the ability of the materials to recover to their original viscosity after extrusion was examined using rotational recovery rheological measurements. Taken together, these assessment techniques revealed significant insights into the requirements for printable inks and shear conditions present during the extrusion process and allow the rapid and reproducible characterisation of a wide variety of inks for bioprinting. KW - bioprinting KW - rheology KW - modelling KW - bioink Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-254061 VL - 9 IS - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Geffers, Martha A1 - Groll, Jürgen A1 - Gbureck, Uwe T1 - Reinforcement strategies for load-bearing calcium phosphate biocements JF - Materials N2 - Calcium phosphate biocements based on calcium phosphate chemistry are well-established biomaterials for the repair of non-load bearing bone defects due to the brittle nature and low flexural strength of such cements. This article features reinforcement strategies of biocements based on various intrinsic or extrinsic material modifications to improve their strength and toughness. Altering particle size distribution in conjunction with using liquefiers reduces the amount of cement liquid necessary for cement paste preparation. This in turn decreases cement porosity and increases the mechanical performance, but does not change the brittle nature of the cements. The use of fibers may lead to a reinforcement of the matrix with a toughness increase of up to two orders of magnitude, but restricts at the same time cement injection for minimal invasive application techniques. A novel promising approach is the concept of dual-setting cements, in which a second hydrogel phase is simultaneously formed during setting, leading to more ductile cement-hydrogel composites with largely unaffected application properties. KW - in vitro KW - synergistic reinforcement KW - dihydrate cement KW - porosity KW - mechanical properties KW - dual setting KW - calcium phosphate cements KW - fiber reinforcement KW - polyacrylic acid KW - compressive strength KW - balloon kyphoplasty KW - brushite cement KW - bone cement Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-148636 VL - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rödel, Michaela A1 - Baumann, Katrin A1 - Groll, Jürgen A1 - Gbureck, Uwe T1 - Simultaneous structuring and mineralization of silk fibroin scaffolds JF - Journal of Tissue Engineering N2 - Silk fibroin is commonly used as scaffold material for tissue engineering applications. In combination with a mineralization with different calcium phosphate phases, it can also be applied as material for bone regeneration. Here, we present a study which was performed to produce mineralized silk fibroin scaffolds with controlled macroporosity. In contrast to former studies, our approach focused on a simultaneous gelation and mineralization of silk fibroin by immersion of frozen silk fibroin monoliths in acidic calcium phosphate solutions. This was achieved by thawing frozen silk fibroin monoliths in acidic calcium phosphate solution, leading to the precipitation of monocalcium phosphate within the silk fibroin matrix. In the second approach, a conversion of incorporated -tricalcium phosphate particles into brushite was successfully achieved. Furthermore, a controlled cryostructuring process of silk fibroin scaffolds was carried out leading to the formation of parallel-oriented pores with diameters of 30-50 mu m. KW - Brushite KW - calcium phosphate KW - cryostructuring KW - hydrogel KW - mineralization KW - silk fibroin scaffolds Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-226427 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Shan, Junwen A1 - Böck, Thomas A1 - Keller, Thorsten A1 - Forster, Leonard A1 - Blunk, Torsten A1 - Groll, Jürgen A1 - Teßmar, Jörg T1 - TEMPO/TCC as a Chemo Selective Alternative for the Oxidation of Hyaluronic Acid JF - Molecules N2 - Hyaluronic acid (HA)-based hydrogels are very commonly applied as cell carriers for different approaches in regenerative medicine. HA itself is a well-studied biomolecule that originates from the physiological extracellular matrix (ECM) of mammalians and, due to its acidic polysaccharide structure, offers many different possibilities for suitable chemical modifications which are necessary to control, for example, network formation. Most of these chemical modifications are performed using the free acid function of the polymer and, additionally, lead to an undesirable breakdown of the biopolymer’s backbone. An alternative modification of the vicinal diol of the glucuronic acid is oxidation with sodium periodate to generate dialdehydes via a ring opening mechanism that can subsequently be further modified or crosslinked via Schiff base chemistry. Since this oxidation causes a structural destruction of the polysaccharide backbone, it was our intention to study a novel synthesis protocol frequently applied to selectively oxidize the C6 hydroxyl group of saccharides. On the basis of this TEMPO/TCC oxidation, we studied an alternative hydrogel platform based on oxidized HA crosslinked using adipic acid dihydrazide as the crosslinker. KW - hyaluronic acid KW - oxidation KW - hydrogel formation KW - Schiff base chemistry Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-248362 SN - 1420-3049 VL - 26 IS - 19 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hauptstein, Julia A1 - Forster, Leonard A1 - Nadernezhad, Ali A1 - Groll, Jürgen A1 - Teßmar, Jörg A1 - Blunk, Torsten T1 - Tethered TGF-β1 in a hyaluronic acid-based bioink for bioprinting cartilaginous tissues JF - International Journal of Molecular Sciences N2 - In 3D bioprinting for cartilage regeneration, bioinks that support chondrogenic development are of key importance. Growth factors covalently bound in non-printable hydrogels have been shown to effectively promote chondrogenesis. However, studies that investigate the functionality of tethered growth factors within 3D printable bioinks are still lacking. Therefore, in this study, we established a dual-stage crosslinked hyaluronic acid-based bioink that enabled covalent tethering of transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1). Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) were cultured over three weeks in vitro, and chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs within bioink constructs with tethered TGF-β1 was markedly enhanced, as compared to constructs with non-covalently incorporated TGF-β1. This was substantiated with regard to early TGF-β1 signaling, chondrogenic gene expression, qualitative and quantitative ECM deposition and distribution, and resulting construct stiffness. Furthermore, it was successfully demonstrated, in a comparative analysis of cast and printed bioinks, that covalently tethered TGF-β1 maintained its functionality after 3D printing. Taken together, the presented ink composition enabled the generation of high-quality cartilaginous tissues without the need for continuous exogenous growth factor supply and, thus, bears great potential for future investigation towards cartilage regeneration. Furthermore, growth factor tethering within bioinks, potentially leading to superior tissue development, may also be explored for other biofabrication applications. KW - biofabrication KW - bioink KW - chondrogenic differentiation KW - dual-stage crosslinking KW - hyaluronic acid KW - tethering KW - transforming growth factor-beta 1 Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-284239 SN - 1422-0067 VL - 23 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sun, Wei A1 - Starly, Binil A1 - Daly, Andrew C A1 - Burdick, Jason A A1 - Groll, Jürgen A1 - Skeldon, Gregor A1 - Shu, Wenmiao A1 - Sakai, Yasuyuki A1 - Shinohara, Marie A1 - Nishikawa, Masaki A1 - Jang, Jinah A1 - Cho, Dong-Woo A1 - Nie, Minghao A1 - Takeuchi, Shoji A1 - Ostrovidov, Serge A1 - Khademhosseini, Ali A1 - Kamm, Roger D A1 - Mironov, Vladimir A1 - Moroni, Lorenzo A1 - Ozbolat, Ibrahim T T1 - The bioprinting roadmap JF - Biofabrication N2 - This bioprinting roadmap features salient advances in selected applications of the technique and highlights the status of current developments and challenges, as well as envisioned advances in science and technology, to address the challenges to the young and evolving technique. The topics covered in this roadmap encompass the broad spectrum of bioprinting; from cell expansion and novel bioink development to cell/stem cell printing, from organoid-based tissue organization to bioprinting of human-scale tissue structures, and from building cell/tissue/organ-on-a-chip to biomanufacturing of multicellular engineered living systems. The emerging application of printing-in-space and an overview of bioprinting technologies are also included in this roadmap. Due to the rapid pace of methodological advancements in bioprinting techniques and wide-ranging applications, the direction in which the field should advance is not immediately clear. This bioprinting roadmap addresses this unmet need by providing a comprehensive summary and recommendations useful to experienced researchers and newcomers to the field. KW - biofabrication KW - bioprinting KW - cell printing KW - biological models KW - disease models KW - organoids KW - organ-on-a-chip Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-254027 VL - 12 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Haider, Malik Salman A1 - Ahmad, Taufiq A1 - Groll, Jürgen A1 - Scherf-Clavel, Oliver A1 - Kroiss, Matthias A1 - Luxenhofer, Robert T1 - The Challenging Pharmacokinetics of Mitotane: An Old Drug in Need of New Packaging JF - European Journal of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics N2 - Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a malignant tumor originating from the adrenal gland cortex with a heterogeneous but overall dismal prognosis in advanced stages. For more than 50 years, mitotane has remained a cornerstone for the treatment of ACC as adjuvant and palliative therapy. It has a very poor aqueous solubility of 0.1 mg/l and high partition coefficient in octanol/water (log P) value of 6. The commercially available dosage form is 500 mg tablets (Lysodren®). Even at doses up to 6 g/day (12 tablets in divided doses) for several months, > 50% patients do not achieve therapeutic plasma concentration > 14 mg/l due to poor water solubility, large volume of distribution and inter/intra-individual variability in bioavailability. This article aims to give a concise update of the clinical challenges associated with the administration of high-dose mitotane oral therapy which encompass the issues of poor bioavailability, difficult-to-predict pharmacokinetics and associated adverse events. Moreover, we present recent efforts to improve mitotane formulations. Their success has been limited, and we therefore propose an injectable mitotane formulation instead of oral administration, which could bypass many of the main issues associated with high-dose oral mitotane therapy. A parenteral administration of mitotane could not only help to alleviate the adverse effects but also circumvent the variable oral absorption, give better control over therapeutic plasma mitotane concentration and potentially shorten the time to achieve therapeutic drug plasma concentrations considerably. Mitotane as tablet form is currently the standard treatment for adrenocortical carcinoma. It has been used for 5 decades but suffers from highly variable responses in patients, subsequent adverse effects and overall lower response rate. This can be fundamentally linked to the exceedingly poor water solubility of mitotane itself. In terms of enhancing water solubility, a few research groups have attempted to develop better formulations of mitotane to overcome the issues associated with tablet dosage form. However, the success rate was limited, and these formulations did not make it into the clinics. In this article, we have comprehensively reviewed the properties of these formulations and discuss the reasons for their limited utility. Furthermore, we discuss a recently developed mitotane nanoformulation that led us to propose a novel approach to mitotane therapy, where intravenous delivery supplements the standard oral administration. With this article, we combine the current state of knowledge as a single piece of information about the various problems associated with the use of mitotane tablets, and herein we postulate the development of a new injectable mitotane formulation, which can potentially circumvent the major problems associated to mitotane's poor water solubility. KW - Mitotane KW - cancer KW - adrenal gland Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-270476 SN - 2107-0180 VL - 46 IS - 5 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rödel, Michaela A1 - Teßmar, Jörg A1 - Groll, Jürgen A1 - Gbureck, Uwe T1 - Tough and Elastic alpha-Tricalcium Phosphate Cement Composites with Degradable PEG-Based Cross-Linker JF - Materials N2 - Dual setting cements composed of an in situ forming hydrogel and a reactive mineral phase combine high compressive strength of the cement with sufficient ductility and bending strength of the polymeric network. Previous studies were focused on the modification with non-degradable hydrogels based on 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA). Here, we describe the synthesis of suitable triblock degradable poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(lactide) (PEG-PLLA) cross-linker to improve the resorption capacity of such composites. A study with four different formulations was established. As reference, pure hydroxyapatite (HA) cements and composites with 40 wt% HEMA in the liquid cement phase were produced. Furthermore, HEMA was modified with 10 wt% of PEG-PLLA cross-linker or a test series containing only 25% cross-linker was chosen for composites with a fully degradable polymeric phase. Hence, we developed suitable systems with increased elasticity and 5-6 times higher toughn ess values in comparison to pure inorganic cement matrix. Furthermore, conversion rate from alpha-tricalcium phosphate (alpha-TCP) to HA was still about 90% for all composite formulations, whereas crystal size decreased. Based on this material development and advancement for a dual setting system, we managed to overcome the drawback of brittleness for pure calcium phosphate cements. KW - dual setting system KW - bending strength KW - calcium phosphate cement KW - composite material KW - HEMA KW - hydroxyapatite KW - free radical polymerization Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-226437 VL - 12 IS - 53 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ryma, Matthias A1 - Tylek, Tina A1 - Liebscher, Julia A1 - Blum, Carina A1 - Fernandez, Robin A1 - Böhm, Christoph A1 - Kastenmüller, Wolfgang A1 - Gasteiger, Georg A1 - Groll, Jürgen T1 - Translation of collagen ultrastructure to biomaterial fabrication for material-independent but highly efficient topographic immunomodulation JF - Advanced materials N2 - Supplement-free induction of cellular differentiation and polarization solely through the topography of materials is an auspicious strategy but has so far significantly lagged behind the efficiency and intensity of media-supplementation-based protocols. Consistent with the idea that 3D structural motifs in the extracellular matrix possess immunomodulatory capacity as part of the natural healing process, it is found in this study that human-monocyte-derived macrophages show a strong M2a-like prohealing polarization when cultured on type I rat-tail collagen fibers but not on collagen I films. Therefore, it is hypothesized that highly aligned nanofibrils also of synthetic polymers, if packed into larger bundles in 3D topographical biomimetic similarity to native collagen I, would induce a localized macrophage polarization. For the automated fabrication of such bundles in a 3D printing manner, the strategy of “melt electrofibrillation” is pioneered by the integration of flow-directed polymer phase separation into melt electrowriting and subsequent selective dissolution of the matrix polymer postprocessing. This process yields nanofiber bundles with a remarkable structural similarity to native collagen I fibers, particularly for medical-grade poly(ε-caprolactone). These biomimetic fibrillar structures indeed induce a pronounced elongation of human-monocyte-derived macrophages and unprecedentedly trigger their M2-like polarization similar in efficacy as interleukin-4 treatment. KW - biofabrication KW - extracellular matrix KW - immunomodulation KW - macrophages KW - melt electrofibrillation KW - melt electrowriting Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-256381 VL - 33 IS - 33 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bothe, Friederike A1 - Deubel, Anne-Kathrin A1 - Hesse, Eliane A1 - Lotz, Benedict A1 - Groll, Jürgen A1 - Werner, Carsten A1 - Richter, Wiltrud A1 - Hagmann, Sebastien T1 - Treatment of focal cartilage defects in minipigs with zonal chondrocyte/mesenchymal progenitor cell constructs JF - International Journal of Molecular Sciences N2 - Despite advances in cartilage repair strategies, treatment of focal chondral lesions remains an important challenge to prevent osteoarthritis. Articular cartilage is organized into several layers and lack of zonal organization of current grafts is held responsible for insufficient biomechanical and biochemical quality of repair-tissue. The aim was to develop a zonal approach for cartilage regeneration to determine whether the outcome can be improved compared to a non-zonal strategy. Hydrogel-filled polycaprolactone (PCL)-constructs with a chondrocyte-seeded upper-layer deemed to induce hyaline cartilage and a mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC)-containing bottom-layer deemed to induce calcified cartilage were compared to chondrocyte-based non-zonal grafts in a minipig model. Grafts showed comparable hardness at implantation and did not cause visible signs of inflammation. After 6 months, X-ray microtomography (µCT)-analysis revealed significant bone-loss in both treatment groups compared to empty controls. PCL-enforcement and some hydrogel-remnants were retained in all defects, but most implants were pressed into the subchondral bone. Despite important heterogeneities, both treatments reached a significantly lower modified O’Driscoll-score compared to empty controls. Thus, PCL may have induced bone-erosion during joint loading and misplacement of grafts in vivo precluding adequate permanent orientation of zones compared to surrounding native cartilage. KW - cartilage repair KW - osteochondral defect KW - tissue engineering KW - starPEG hydrogel KW - chondrocyte KW - MSC KW - zonal construct KW - minipig Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-285118 SN - 1422-0067 VL - 20 IS - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Haider, Malik Salman A1 - Ahmad, Taufiq A1 - Yang, Mengshi A1 - Hu, Chen A1 - Hahn, Lukas A1 - Stahlhut, Philipp A1 - Groll, Jürgen A1 - Luxenhofer, Robert T1 - Tuning the thermogelation and rheology of poly(2-oxazoline)/poly(2-oxazine)s based thermosensitive hydrogels for 3D bioprinting JF - Gels N2 - As one kind of “smart” material, thermogelling polymers find applications in biofabrication, drug delivery and regenerative medicine. In this work, we report a thermosensitive poly(2-oxazoline)/poly(2-oxazine) based diblock copolymer comprising thermosensitive/moderately hydrophobic poly(2-N-propyl-2-oxazine) (pPrOzi) and thermosensitive/moderately hydrophilic poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (pEtOx). Hydrogels were only formed when block length exceeded certain length (≈100 repeat units). The tube inversion and rheological tests showed that the material has then a reversible sol-gel transition above 25 wt.% concentration. Rheological tests further revealed a gel strength around 3 kPa, high shear thinning property and rapid shear recovery after stress, which are highly desirable properties for extrusion based three-dimensional (3D) (bio) printing. Attributed to the rheology profile, well resolved printability and high stackability (with added laponite) was also possible. (Cryo) scanning electron microscopy exhibited a highly porous, interconnected, 3D network. The sol-state at lower temperatures (in ice bath) facilitated the homogeneous distribution of (fluorescently labelled) human adipose derived stem cells (hADSCs) in the hydrogel matrix. Post-printing live/dead assays revealed that the hADSCs encapsulated within the hydrogel remained viable (≈97%). This thermoreversible and (bio) printable hydrogel demonstrated promising properties for use in tissue engineering applications. KW - poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) KW - shear thinning KW - shape fidelity KW - cyto-compatibility KW - bio-printability Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-241781 SN - 2310-2861 VL - 7 IS - 3 ER -